Background: Sarcoidosis is a systemic granulomatous and inflammatory disorder with significant
variability in ethnicity and geographical distribution. There is no descriptive data about the
epidemiology of the disease among the geographically isolated Puerto Rican population.
Objective: To estimate the incidence, prevalence, distribution, and healthcare burden of
sarcoidosis in a large nationwide population-based cohort in Puerto Rico.
Methods: We conducted a descriptive and retrospective analysis using the health administrative
claim database from the Puerto Rico Health Insurance Administration (ASES) from 2016 to 2018.
The International Classification of Diseases-Tenth Revision coding (D86) was used for case
detection. Data on sex and age were used to estimate incidence and prevalence.
Results: A total of 539 sarcoidosis cases were identified over the 3-year study. The median age
at diagnosis was 59 years old. The average annual incidence rate was 9.4/100,000. The baseline
prevalence was 15.4 per 100,000. Females represented the 67.5% of the cases. The frequency of
sarcoidosis in women was higher than in males starting at the age range 18-34 years (GLM
p<0.03). Patients with lung and unspecified sarcoidosis predominates with 37% and 32% of cases,
respectively.
Conclusions: Annual incidence rate of sarcoidosis in Island Puerto Ricans is among the highest
in a single geographically isolated ethnic group reported globally. The overall mean age of
individuals with sarcoidosis in Puerto Rico represent the oldest among previous epidemiological
surveys conducted worldwide.